Kushira Hikamara
"Loyalty above all else" Kushira Hikamara is the captain of the 9th Division in the Gotei 13. Her lieutenant is Shuhei Hisagi. Appearance Kushira is a tall red-haired woman with green eyes and dark skin. She has waist-length red hair pulled into a thick braid. 110 years ago, she had shoulder-length hair. During her time in the Academy, her hair was short - reaching her chin - and frequently uncombed. 17 months after Aizen's defeat, she wears her hair in a half ponytail. During her early years in the Gotei 13, she wore an abbreviated version of the standard shihakusho which was later sported by Lisa Yadomaru. When not in her shihakusho, she wears a high-collared grey kimono with blue accents. She has a scar running along her collarbone from an accident during her Academy days that she is highly self-conscious about. Personality As one of the oldest captains, Kushira is well-known and well-respected. She has similar high morals as her best and oldest friends Shunsui Kyoraku and Jushiro Ukitake. She is a pacifist and deplores the idea of fighting. She wil try to settle battles through talking and mediation, but if forced into battle she will kill swiftly, subjecting her opponent to minimal suffering. The only thing that will draw her into a fight without her hesitating is if her friends are in danger; she cares very deeply for her friends and her defining trait is her sense of loyalty. Like Ukitake, she treats everyone around her with respect, regardless of rank and has a high measure of mercy, refusing to kill unless absolutely necessary and absolutely refusing to raise her sword against a child. Despite her high moral code, she is not above breaking rules to do what she believes is right regardless of the consequences levied against her. Her cheerful, laidback demeanor makes her one of the easiest captains to talk to and younger shinigami frequently seek her out. Despite her cheerful, extroverted personality, Kushira is prone to depression and extended periods of moody introspection, especially regarding her feelings for Jushiro and thoughts of her sister. She also has the tendency to blame herself for things regardless of whether it is beyond her control or not. She has a paralyzing case of claustrophobia and even worse fear of insects, especially spiders. She will go into a panic attack if she is faced with any of her fears, rendering her useless. Kushira repeatedly struggles with her feelings towards her best friend Jushiro Ukitake. She initially brushes them off as the feelings of sibling love and refuses to admit she is in love with him. When she is finally forced to confront her feelings, she refuses to tell him until she is faced with the fact that there is a possibility she could lose him permanently. During her Academy days, she had a hair-trigger temper and was prone to violent outbursts, especially regarding bullies and those who targeted people weaker than they are. She was hot-headed and reckless. As she got older she mellowed out and only a small handful of Shinigami remember her violent temper. Although it still makes appearances very rarely when she feels as though her friends are threatened or insulted. History Kushira and her younger sister Tier were sent to Soul Society together. They made a home in a cave in a forest in the 79th Rukongai District. Both had spiritual pressure but they didn't know it. One day, a hollow attacks the girls as they are picking flowers to eat. The hollow aimed for Kushira, but she froze and Tier pushed her out of the way. The hollow impaled Tier, dragging her back to Hueco Mundo. Kushira was left stunned. Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto was leading a patrol to dispose of a recent influx of hollows when he came across Kushira. At Senjumaru Shutara's urging, Yamamoto takes Kushira with him. He adopts her and realizes that young souls with spiritual pressure need to be trained in the way of the Shinigami so he starts the Shino Academy. During her time at the Shino Academy, she meets Jushiro and Shunsui. Their initial encounter is very hostile and they wind up the worst of enemies. After an incident where Kushira and Kirio Hikifune put itching powder in Shunsui's underwear drawer in revenge for breaking their friend's heart, Yamamoto decided they needed to learn to get along so during their second year, he sent their entire class into the World of the Living for a team-building mission. Shunsui, Jushiro and Kushira were put into a group. After much arguing, they wind up getting lost and Shunsui accidentally stabs a hollow while stretching. The hollow attacks them and they have to work together to stay alive. After destroying the hollow and finding shelter, they become friends. After graduation, they were all placed in the First Division under Captain Genryusai Yamamoto. Eventually, they were promoted to lieutenants and separated: Shunsui was moved to the Eighth Division under Captain Oetsu Nimaiya, Jushiro ended up in the Thirteenth Division under Captain Ichibei Hyosube and Kushira ended up in the Tenth Division as lieutenant under Captain Senjumaru Shutara. Eventually, Kushira is promoted to captain of the Tenth Division. Her first lieutenant, Hana Miyagi gets killed in action so Kushira promotes the third-seat Isshin Shiba. When Kenjiro Tanaka, the Ninth Division captain is killed in battle, Kushira is transferred to the Ninth Division and Isshin takes her place as captain of the Tenth. During her time as Ninth Division captain, her division garnered a reputation as being slightly reckless regarding the fairly new Seireitei News Magazine and the news they published. Several members of her division discovered suspicious behavior on the part of Central 46 and the news quickly made it's way around the Seireitei News HQ. Shortly before the edition was meant to be published, Kushira gets orders to check a dangerous hollow hot-spot and a list of people to take with her. She and her entourage of thirty soldiers go to investigate and unbeknownst to Kushira, the orders were a death warrant. Almost all the shinigami were wiped out in a massive hollow attak. Kushira, Kensei Muguruma her lieutenant, and a new shinigami Kaname Tosen barely survived. That was when Kensei achieved Bankai. He and Tosen carried their half-dead captain back to Seireitei. The slaughter shocked Kushira, who was a pacifist by nature and cared deeply for all her squad members. She began to doubt her abilities as a captain, haunted by failing thirty of her people. She resigns as captain and fades into the rank-and-file shinigami of the First Division, attempting to cut ties with everyone. Jushiro, Retsu and Shunsui refuse to let her become a recluse. Kensei took her place as captain. After Kensei and the Vizards are exiled, she is asked to take her old position but she refuses, allowing Kaname Tosen to step up. Eventually, Yamamoto sends Kushira back to the Ninth Division and forces her into taking a seated officer position. She takes the Thirteenth Seat, much to her friends' exasperation. After Kaname's betrayal, Kushira was once again asked to return to her former captaincy. Reluctantly, she agrees, feeling guilty for having allowed Kaname Tosen to take a leadership position and wanting to prevent it from happening again. Relationships Jushiro Ukitake: 'Kushira and Jushiro started off with a very rocky relationship. After they become friends, they realize they have more in common than they initially thought and their friendship grows even deeper. Along the line, they fell in love with each other but for the longest time they were too dense to realize their feelings as anything deeper than a sibling-like relationship. When they do realize it may be something more, neither one says anything to the other afraid it would damage their friendship. Jushiro doesn't say anything when he feels like Rose and Kushira have romantic feelings for each other even though it causes him great pain. They are very affectionate with each other and are often confused as a couple. After the war with Aizen, when Wonderweiss punches a hole in Jushiro's chest, Kushira is hit with the blinding realization that she is actually in love with him. When he wakes up, she yells at him for worrying her and he silences her with a kiss. They begin dating and after the victory over the Vandenreich, they get married. '''Tier Harribel: '''Kushira and Tier were very, very close when they first arrived in Soul Society. When Tier gets taken by the hollow, she forgets Kushira until they encounter each other in Karakura. They embrace instead of fighting and go their separate ways. They try to keep in communication with each other. During the battle with Aizen, Kushira loses her temper when Aizen cuts down her sister. She flies at Aizen but is also cut down and lands next to her sister. At Kushira's pleas, Orihime heals Tier and her fracciones. The sisters bid a tearful farewell as Tier leaves for Hueco Mundo. When she finds out the Vandenreich kidnapped her sister, she immediately attempts to leave for Hueco Mundo but is restrained by Jushiro. When the Vandenreich invades, Kushira breaks free and leaves for Hueco Mundo with Ichigo and his company. When she sees the state Tier is in, she panics and performs a konso on her which knocks the both out. When Kushira is brought back to Soul Society, a piece of her soul is attached to her sister's soul and she's essentially in a waking coma. Tenjiro Kirinji had said that if they lost Tier, they would lose Kushira. Fortunately, Tier wakes and so does Kushira. Now a pure soul, Tier is recruited into the Gotei 13 in the Thirteenth DIvision. The sisters are inseparable from then on. '''Shunsui Kyoraku: '''Shunsui and Kushira also had a very rocky relationship. Kushira was mad at Shunsui for having a one-night stand with her friend and breaking her friend's heart. She and Kirio Hikifune once put itching powder in his underwear drawer. After they become friends, they form an inseparable sibling-like bond, Shunsui treats her like a little sister and in turn, she views him as an older brother. Shunsui frequently prompts Jushiro to do something about the visible attraction between them and Kushira gives Shunsui advice on how to properly talk to women. Shunsui is the best man at their wedding and it is thanks to Kushira and Jushiro's advice and subtle manipulating that Shunsui and Nanao finally begin to date. Shunsui becomes godfather to the young Ukitake children Retsu Tier and Genryusai Shunsui. '''Retsu Unohana: '''Kushira looks up to Retsu. They are very close and Kushira often turns to Retsu for advice. Retsu was one of the original Gotei 13 captains and is hundred of years older than Kushira. They become close friends. It is to Kushira that Retsu first admits her growing attraction to Kenpachi Zaraki. Kushira advises Retsu to pursue him. When Retsu dies while training Zaraki, Kushira is beyond devastated. She goes into a depression that takes quite awhile to get her out of. When she and Jushiro have a daughter, they name her Retsu. '''Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto: '''Kushira has an odd relationship with her adoptive father. She loves him, but she hates some of the decisions he makes. Likewise, he loves her but can't show it openly lest he be accused of nepotism. He struggles with making decisions that he knows go against Kushira's wishes. When he bans her from rescuing her sister, she goes anyway. It is that distraction that gives Juhabach the opening to get in his killing swing. Guilt-ridden, Kushira goes through her deepest, most dangerous bout of depression yet. It takes the combined efforts of Shunsui, Tier, Jushiro, Rose and Rangiku to pull her out of it. Jushiro and Kushira name their son after him. '''Rojuro Otoribashi: '''Rose and Kushira are very close. Their friendship is initially the cause of quite a bit of pain between Jushiro and Kushira. Jushiro can't help but feel jealous of the closeness between them. Believing that they have romantic feelings for each other, Jushiro doesn't say anything. Rose, for his part, recognizes that they're in love with each other before they do and encourages the relationship. Rose helps pull Kushira out of her depression. Their friendship deepens when Kushira helps Rose get in a relationship with Izuru Kira. They often spar with each other because they have similar zanpakuto. Powers & Abilities '''Master Swordsman: '''Despite deploring battle and having to draw a weapon, Kushira is one of the oldest captains and is a proficient enough swordsman to hold her own against Retsu Unohana and Yamamoto. *'Whip Mastery: '''Like Rojuro, Kushira's zanpakuto is a whip-like weapon. She is able to curve Kusari in smooth turns and maneuver with minimal effort and lots of ease. She can also wield her released zanpakuto easily with both hands. '''Kido Mastery: '''As a captain, she has above-average knowledge of kido. She can perform fairly high-level spells without an incantation although kido is her weak spot. '''Immense Spiritual Pressure: '''As one of the oldest captains, she has an immense spiritual pressure. She, Shunsui and Jushiro were said to have reiatsu unmatched by their peers. However, Shunsui has the highest reiatsu level of the three and Kushira has the lowest. She has used her spiritual pressure to cow Central 46 and matched reiatsu with her adoptive father in a fit of temper. '''Shunpo Master: '''As a captain, she is exceptional in the art of shunpo. Zanpakuto '''Kashou Kusari (スプレイクサリ Singing Chain): Kushira's sword is a slender wakizashi with a silver crossguard in the shape of a six-pointed star. A blue ribbon is wrapped around the hilt. *'Shikai: '''it's shikai command is Ring Out. When released, Kashou Kusari becomes a silver chain-link whip with a disk at the end. The hilt stays the same. The whip is extendable like Renji Abarai's shikai and Kushira uses it as a long-range weapon. She moves the whip in long, sweeping motions and can curve it at various links as well as retract it easily. 'Shikai Special Ability:' Similar to Kisuke Urahara's shikai, Kashou Kusari is capable of performing multiple techniques all involving the manipulation of sound. *'Collapse:' when Kushira flicks Kashou Kusari sharply, a high-pitched sound travels down the length of the whip. It overwhelms the opponents hearing and causes the opponent to lose consciousness. She favors this technique. *'Choke:' This technique produces bursts of low-frequency sound that causes air to vibrate out of the opponent's lungs, slowly suffocating them. Kushira dislikes this technique and uses it only as a last resort or when the opponent cannot be allowed to live. *'Shatter: when this technique is used, it produces a harmonic capable of shattering stone. *'''Protect: when Kashou Kusari is spun rapidly in a circle, it creates a barrier comprised of sound waves that deflects attacks back to the original attacker *'Confuse:' This technique sends out high-powered sound waves that severely disorient the opponent. However, this technique can only be used three times. She often uses this technique with a partner. '''Bankai: '''Not Yet Revealed